I have just returned from a seminar with Olympus in Amsterdam to introduce journalists to the [URL="http://dpnow.com/8532.html"]new Olympus OM-D E-M5[/URL] compact system camera (CSC). Japanese market research data shows that, in Japan at least, DSLR sales are under serious pressure from CSCs like the Olympus Pen (and soon OM-D), Sony NEX, Panasonic Lumix G Micro, and even the Fujifilm X-Pro1, which is a larger mirror-less system camera.

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[I]In Japan DSLR sales are in steady decline, while CSC sales are more than making up the difference.[/I]

Japanese market DSLR sales have been in steady decline since May 2010 - almost 2 years, but the trend accelerated sharply this time last year. Meanwhile, CSC sales took off in April 2010. As the chart shows below, CSCs actually out-sold DSLRs in Japan for the first time last December:


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[I]CSCs out-sold DSLRs for the first time last December in Japan.[/I]

The story is similar in the Far East, with Taiwanese sales following a similar trend to Japan, and clear signs of DSLR decline in other Asian markets.

In Europe and the USA DSLR sales are fairly flat, but CSC sales - while still a much smaller base - are growing at varying rates depending on the region. CSC is particularly strong in the UK, for example.

It can be argued that there have been relatively few new DSLR camera launches in recent months, while new CSC models are arriving in a steady stream. But I don't believe that is enough to explain the stress the DSLR is under in Japan and the rest of Asia. Of the big camera brands only Canon has yet to join the CSC club. It surely can't be long, despite corporate protestations that Canon doesn't need to produce a compact system camera.